All entries by this author

With But a Single Thought

Feb 28th, 2005 12:22 am | By

And speaking of self-fulfilling prophecies…We were speaking of them the other day in High Tension and ever since I keep bumping into them. You know how that goes, when you mention something or learn a new word and immediately afterward it’s everywhere. It’s been happening to me with that word ‘quotidian’ which I was told is a very rare, peculiar word – I keep hearing and reading it. It doesn’t seem to be all that rare. And self-fulfilling prophecy is everywhere too. There was that Robert Frank article in the NY Times a few days ago (which unfortunately has now gone into the archive and which the link generator never generated a link for, so I can’t quote from … Read the rest



Watch Out! Stop Eating! Throw Up! *

Feb 27th, 2005 | Filed by

Everything is dangerous, everything is toxic, there is no safe level, we’re all doomed.… Read the rest



Gender, Brains, Expectations, Numbers *

Feb 27th, 2005 | Filed by

Studies show brain differences, also that beliefs affect test performance.… Read the rest



More From Amnesty International on its Founder *

Feb 27th, 2005 | Filed by

Spanish orphans and trade unionists, German Jews, Greek Cypriots, Portuguese political prisoners…… Read the rest



Amnesty International on Peter Benenson *

Feb 27th, 2005 | Filed by

‘In 2005 his legacy is a world wide movement for human rights which will never die.’… Read the rest



Peter Benenson 1921-2005 *

Feb 27th, 2005 | Filed by

His 1961 newspaper article ‘The Forgotten Prisoners’ changed the world for the better. … Read the rest



Bush Admin Science Advisor Gets One Thing Right *

Feb 26th, 2005 | Filed by

John Marburger stated point blank, ‘Intelligent Design is not a scientific theory.’… Read the rest



Dynamic Behind Campus Free-speech Fights *

Feb 26th, 2005 | Filed by

Parochial argument turned into national banquet for right-wingers hungry for culture enemies.… Read the rest



Scott McLemee Goes to Derrida Conference *

Feb 26th, 2005 | Filed by

Where Jack Balkin suggests that Bush has hoisted Derrida by his own aporias.… Read the rest



Did Larry Summers Have a Cunning Plan? *

Feb 26th, 2005 | Filed by

If not, he wasn’t doing his job and doesn’t know what it is, Stanley Fish says.… Read the rest



A C Grayling Reviews Fuller on Popper and Kuhn *

Feb 26th, 2005 | Filed by

Popper’s promotion of critical spirit of scientific enquiry preferable to Kuhn’s incommensurability.… Read the rest



First, Do No Harm *

Feb 26th, 2005 | Filed by

Next, get agreement on what will do harm. Best of luck!… Read the rest



Richard Dawkins on the Giant Tortoise’s Tale *

Feb 26th, 2005 | Filed by

Islands provide the barrier to sexual intermingling that evolution needs.… Read the rest



Beliefs Should Precede ‘Positioning’ *

Feb 25th, 2005 | Filed by

Michael Tomasky: Democrats just don’t talk about fundamental ideas enough.… Read the rest



Todd Gitlin on Permission to Speak Freely *

Feb 25th, 2005 | Filed by

Conformity is self-fulfilling, lending itself to enshrinement of the smug and the narrow.… Read the rest



Use Bottled Water in the Bird-bath *

Feb 24th, 2005 | Filed by

Shampoo the teddy-bear, dodge the asteroid, take holistic arboreal medicine.… Read the rest



Ted Honderich on Infuriating Both Sides *

Feb 24th, 2005 | Filed by

You can infuriate both sides and be wrong; but independence of mind is anathema to some on any side.… Read the rest



Harry Frankfurt Talks to the Boston Globe *

Feb 24th, 2005 | Filed by

On the difference between lies and bullshit, and whether there is more of the latter.… Read the rest



‘Christian Voice’ Ought to Shut Up *

Feb 24th, 2005 | Filed by

Tells cancer charity not to accept donation from ‘Jerry Springer – The Opera’ – and charity obeys.… Read the rest



‘More Than a Stretch’

Feb 24th, 2005 | By Graham Larkin

The first casualty of David Horowitz’s effort to impose ideological “diversity” on American campuses has been the truth. Horowitz initially supported his proposal for an Academic Bill of Rights (ABOR) with “independent” studies pointing to a vast predominance of “leftists” on American campuses. As I pointed out last September, neither of the studies in question seems to be independent of Horowitz’s own Center for the Study of Popular Culture. (Nor does the help of the notoriously mendacious Frank Luntz serve as any guarantee of credibility.) In a subsequent exchange with me, Horowitz underwent breathtaking contortions in an effort to back out of bogus claims he had made in support of his ABOR campaign. For instance, in order to deny … Read the rest